What a primal joy to awake each morning on the east side of the Bay Bridge in the beautiful Bay Area and know that somewhere up in the hills, quietly walking, sleeping, purring or chirping, caring for cubs, or hunting – are lions. Lions! Known as mountain lion, cougar, puma and panther, the elusive “cat of one color” has inspired more names—40 in English alone— than any other animal in the world. The mountain lion is the biggest wild cat in North America and has the largest geographic range of any carnivore in the Western Hemisphere. Mountain lions can be found from the Yukon to the southern Andes. Here in the Bay Area, lions are known to roam the Santa Cruz Mountains, and varies ranges in the East Bay, near me.

Chris Wilmers, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California Santa Cruz, is leading a team of scientists on the so-called Bay Area Puma Project, which hopes to tag mountain lions to study their movements, range, habits and physiology.

Our mountain lions are much different than African lions in that they are solitary and maintain territories that average 100 square miles in size. Males are highly protective of their large domains and will fight to defend it. A fortunate mountain lion can live a 10-12 year life in the wild. They eat deer and other small mammals which helps keep ecosystems balanced and healthy.

The status of mountain lions is very much in question. Though true populations in the United States, Mexico, Central and South America is virtually unknown, experts estimate 30,000 in the United States. Per the Mountain Lion Foundation’s sources, the California’s statewide population of mountain lions is approximately 4,000 animals and dropping.

As mountain lion habitat is increasingly fragmented and movement corridors are blocked by human development, more sightings and encounters with mountain lions are causing challenges. Mountain lions are being killed more often by cars and depredation permits (issued when livestock or pets are attacked), and increasing news reports of mountain lion encounters are driving growing public concern for both people and the cats.

As the Conservation Director at Oakland Zoo, I work very closely with wildlife conservation issues all over the world, and habitat loss and the resulting human-wildlife conflict is a challenge we all share, whether that is elephants, tigers, African lions or our own apex predator. I have learned that it takes all stakeholders coming together to truly offer hope for these species.

Now, for the good news: in the Bay Area, mountain lions have friends. One of these friends is the Bay Area Puma Project, who is bringing their international cat research expertise home to the East bay with the aim of understanding these cats and improving our local co-existence with them. Oakland Zoo supports these efforts (they were our Quarters for Conservation project in 2013) and is excited to share their expertise with our public on March 5th at our Conservation Speaker Series event, Saving the Puma.

On New Year’s Day, Senate Bill 132 went into effect, which allows the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to work with nongovernmental groups in capturing, tranquilizing or relocating the animals. With this new bill, and the new and improved policies of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, wardens and their supporting organizations will capture or scare off mountain lions unless they pose an imminent threat to people or public safety. Oakland Zoo is honored to help with this progressive effort.

In fact, Oakland Zoo has embraced mountain lion conservation in many ways. As we join forces with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, we are committed to both participate in response to mountain lion conflict calls, and to offer care for a mountain lion in need of recovery before it is hopefully released back into the wild. We are also assisting the Bay Area Puma Project with their vital research and launching various outreach and education programs to create greater mountain lion awareness.

What a joy to look out into those hills and feel thanks to working alliances, our own conservation village, there is hope for a peaceful co-existence with our very own native lion.

Quarters for Conservation is an exciting new initiative launched in August of 2011. Each time a visitor comes to the Oakland Zoo, twenty five cents is donated to one of the zoo’s Conservation Field Partners. Visitors vote for their favorite of three different projects at the conservation voting station in Flamingo Plaza. Be sure to use your token and spare change to vote each time you visit.

Announcing the new 2012-2013 Quarters for Conservation Projects! We are so very excited to support these projects and get to know them better this year.

Protect the Puma, our Local Lion

We share our world with a beautiful keystone species, the puma! These native cats, also known as mountain lions, are in crisis, as habitat and movement corridors are increasingly invaded by human development. Pumas are also being killed by cars and depredation permits (issued when livestock or pets are attacked). The time is now to research and better understand these apex predators and their vital role in our ecosystem.

The Bay Area Puma Project, the first long-term study of mountain lions in the San Francisco bay area, works to track and record pumas, discovering their range, movement, feeding patterns and the effects of human development on puma populations. The Bay Area Puma Project aims to utilize this research to develop new conservation strategies and engaging educational programs to foster a healthy co-existence between humans and this magnificent local lion.

Care for the Malayan Sun Bear

Able to climb some of the world’s tallest trees with the help of its four inch claws, the Malayan sun bear is facing many threats to its survival. Clear cutting for logging and palm oil plantations destroys vital habitat, and poaching for the trade in bear parts kills adult bears and leaves cubs orphaned. Many of these cubs end up in the illegal pet trade, destined to live their lives in small bare cages, never to see the sky or feel the forest floor beneath their feet.

The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre rescues and cares for bears in need, providing lifelong care for some and striving to return others to the wild. Through public awareness and expansion of the sanctuary, the Centre is making a vital difference in the effort to save this extraordinary bear!

Conserve Central American Wildlife

Illegal wildlife trafficking, often for the pet industry, has a devastating impact on animal welfare, species conservation, and ecosystems. Second to habitat loss, it is a major cause of species extinction. Many smuggled animals die in transit, and those that survive need constant care and attention.

The ARCAS Wild Animal Rescue Center was created by Guatemalan citizens in order to rescue, rehabilitate and release animals confiscated from smugglers operating in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The ARCAS Rescue Center is now one of the largest rescue centers in the world, receiving between 300 and 600 animals of more than 40 species per year. Thanks to ARCAS, animals such as parrots, scarlet macaws, spider and howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and coatimundis, have a chance to live free and fulfill their natural role in the Mayan forest.

We are so very proud of our three wonderful projects. Good luck to them, and happy voting to all the wonderful Oakland Zoo visitors.

It still amazes me that we live near lions. Lions! We live in an ecosystem that includes an apex predator, a beautiful symbol of the biodiversity in California. Today, I could cast my eyes onto a local

mountain range and know that this magnificent animal could be there, but let’s back up a few months.

In fall 2008 an Oakland Zoo Eco-Trip visited conservation projects we support in Uganda. There, we embarked on a safari with lion ecologist, Dr. Ludwig Siefert. The landscape was beautiful, peaceful, and missing something. Though we had seen a herd of elephants the evening before, on this clear morning, the habitat was empty of one of the most important parts of the eco-system: predators. We looked to Dr. Siefert for an explanation.

African lions have found domestic cattle grazing in their habitat to be easy prey. Unfortunately, the local herdsmen who own the cattle let them graze in the park rather than in the lush pasture right outside. Their solution for lions, leopards, and hyenas that prey on their livelihood is to put poison on carcasses and leave them as bait. There has to be a better way, we thought. (more…)